Tobacco Ad Spending Is Plunging, Except In One Place

Playboy ran the most tobacco ad pages of any other MPA consumer magazine magazine this year, according to MagazineRadar. While, as a whole, tobacco advertising is down, over half of Playboy’s total tobacco ad pages were from two companies, Newport and Natural Spirit.

Maybe Playboy knows something the rest of us don’t.

Earlier this month, USA Today reported that due to the recent federal tax increase, tobacco consumption in the U.S. has decreased dramatically since 2009. According to surveys by the centres for Disease Control and Prevention, there were about 3 million fewer smokers in 2011 than in 2009, due in large part to the aggressive anti-smoking campaigns that have taken affect over the past few years.

There was a slight increase in tobacco advertising at the beginning of Q1 2012, up 11% to a total of 160 pages, led by Newport and Natural American Spirit, according to MagazineRadar. But, ever since, tobacco advertising has been down 22%, and doesn’t look like it will be changing any time soon. Though Newport and Natural American Spirit remain the largest advertisers, their buys have both decreased by 38% and 18%, respectively.

This chart shows the most active tobacco advertisers in magazines in Q2 and Q3 2012:

This chart shows the magazines that ran the most tobacco ads in Q2 and Q3 2012:

Photo: Magazine Radar

It doesn’t seem like the tobacco brands are just moving over to magazines. With few exceptions, most tobacco brands are not running online magazine campaigns, reported MagazineRadar. Conversely, White Cloud Electronic Cigarettes, Macanudo Cigars, and Altria Group, ran a large campaign on theatlantic.com advertising its underage smoking prevention initiative.